scholarly journals Lack of aggression and apparent altruism towards intruders in a primitive termite

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 160682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feargus Cooney ◽  
Emma I. K. Vitikainen ◽  
Harry H. Marshall ◽  
Wilmie van Rooyen ◽  
Robert L. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Temporal Constraints ◽  
Cooperative Behaviour ◽  
Termite Species ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Nest Mate Recognition ◽  
Breeding Status

In eusocial insects, the ability to discriminate nest-mates from non-nest-mates is widespread and ensures that altruistic actions are directed towards kin and agonistic actions are directed towards non-relatives. Most tests of nest-mate recognition have focused on hymenopterans, and suggest that cooperation typically evolves in tandem with strong antagonism towards non-nest-mates. Here, we present evidence from a phylogenetically and behaviourally basal termite species that workers discriminate members of foreign colonies. However, contrary to our expectations, foreign intruders were the recipients of more rather than less cooperative behaviour and were not subjected to elevated aggression. We suggest that relationships between groups may be much more peaceable in basal termites compared with eusocial hymenoptera, owing to energetic and temporal constraints on colony growth, and the reduced incentive that totipotent workers (who may inherit breeding status) have to contribute to self-sacrificial intergroup conflict.

scholarly journals Sex allocation conflict and sexual selection throughout the lifespan of eusocial colonies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piret Avila ◽  
Lutz Fromhage ◽  
Laurent Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Colony Growth ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Dynamic Resource ◽  
Colony Ontogeny ◽  
Allocation Decisions ◽  
Allocation Strategies

AbstractModels of sex allocation conflict are central to evolutionary biology but have mostly assumed static decisions, where resource allocation strategies are constant over colony lifespan. Here, we develop a model to study how the evolution of dynamic resource allocation strategies is affected by the queen-worker conflict in annual eusocial insects. We demonstrate that the time of dispersal of sexuals affects the sex allocation ratio through sexual selection on males. Furthermore, our model provides three predictions that depart from established results of classic static allocation models. First, we find that the queen wins the sex allocation conflict, while the workers determine the maximum colony size and colony productivity. Second, male-biased sex allocation and protandry evolve if sexuals disperse directly after eclosion. Third, when workers are more related to new queens, then the proportional investment into queens is expected to be lower, which results from the interacting effect of sexual selection (selecting for protandry) and sex allocation conflict (selecting for earlier switch to producing sexuals). Overall, we find that colony ontogeny crucially affects the outcome of sex-allocation conflict because of the evolution of distinct colony growth phases, which decouples how queens and workers affect allocation decisions and can result in asymmetric control.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of recognition in birds and social Hymenoptera: from detection to information processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1802) ◽  
pp. 20190483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natacha Rossi ◽  
Sébastien Derégnaucourt
Keyword(s):  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Social Hymenoptera ◽  
Song Control System ◽  
Recognition Systems ◽  
Song Control ◽  
Avian Song ◽  
Evolving Models ◽  
Nest Mate Recognition

In this opinion piece, we briefly review our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying auditory individual recognition in birds and chemical nest-mate recognition in social Hymenoptera. We argue that even though detection and perception of recognition cues are well studied in social Hymenoptera, the neural mechanisms remain a black box. We compare our knowledge of these insect systems with that of the well-studied avian ‘song control system’. We suggest that future studies on recognition should focus on the hypothesis of a distributed template instead of trying to locate the seat of the template as recent results do not seem to point in that direction. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests’.

scholarly journals Long-lived termite kings and queens activate telomerase in somatic organs

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1949) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justina Koubová ◽  
Marie Pangrácová ◽  
Marek Jankásek ◽  
Ondřej Lukšan ◽  
Tomáš Jehlík ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Catalytic Activity ◽  
Similar Pattern ◽  
Termite Species ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Somatic Maintenance ◽  
Somatic Tissues ◽  
Lifespan Regulation

Kings and queens of termites, like queens of other advanced eusocial insects, are endowed with admirable longevity, which dramatically exceeds the life expectancies of their non-reproducing nest-mates and related solitary insects. In the quest to find the mechanisms underlying the longevity of termite reproductives, we focused on somatic maintenance mediated by telomerase. This ribonucleoprotein is well established for pro-longevity functions in vertebrates, thanks primarily to its ability of telomere extension. However, its participation in lifespan regulation of insects, including the eusocial taxa, remains understudied. Here, we report a conspicuous increase of telomerase abundance and catalytic activity in the somatic organs of primary and secondary reproductives of the termite Prorhinotermes simplex and confirm a similar pattern in two other termite species. These observations stand in contrast with the telomerase downregulation characteristic for most adult somatic tissues in vertebrates and also in solitary insects and non-reproducing castes of termites. At the same time, we did not observe caste-specific differences in telomere lengths that might explain the differential longevity of termite castes. We conclude that although the telomerase activation in termite reproductives is in line with the broadly assumed association between telomerase and longevity, its direct phenotypic impact remains to be elucidated.

scholarly journals Nest-mate recognition template of guard honeybees ( Apis mellifera ) is modified by wax comb transfer

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret J Couvillon ◽  
Jamie P Caple ◽  
Samuel L Endsor ◽  
Martin Kärcher ◽  
Trudy E Russell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Nest Mate ◽  
Colony Odour ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Unidirectional Transfer ◽  
Nest Mate Recognition ◽  
Wax Comb ◽  
Rejection Rates

In recognition, discriminators use sensory information to make decisions. For example, honeybee ( Apis mellifera ) entrance guards discriminate between nest-mates and intruders by comparing their odours with a template of the colony odour. Comb wax plays a major role in honeybee recognition. We measured the rejection rates of nest-mate and non-nest-mate worker bees by entrance guards before and after a unidirectional transfer of wax comb from a ‘comb donor’ hive to a ‘comb receiver’ hive. Our results showed a significant effect that occurred in one direction. Guards in the comb receiver hive became more accepting of non-nest-mates from the comb donor hive (rejection decreased from 70 to 47%); however, guards in the comb donor hive did not become more accepting of bees from the comb receiver hive. These data strongly support the hypothesis that the transfer of wax comb increases the acceptance of non-nest-mates not by changing the odour of the bees, but by changing the template used by guards.

scholarly journals Comb wax mediates the acquisition of nest-mate recognition cues in honey bees

1988 ◽  
Vol 85 (22) ◽  
pp. 8766-8769 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Breed ◽  
K. R. Williams ◽  
J. H. Fewell
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Nest Mate ◽  
Nest Mate Recognition
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